Monthly Archives: April 2018

I have enjoyed reading C. S. Lewis’ non-fiction over the last few years so I was pleased to find a YouTuber who has animated some of his works. Here is an excellent example:

I found the format delightful and was tickled to find that my birth-country, Wales, managed to make an appearance at the end. There is mention of the Eisteddfod which reminded me of my own (albeit brief and lacklustre) performances in the Urdd (youth) Eisteddfod. I hope you enjoy the video and find the time to watch some more. The content is well worth your time.

By the way, I also re-read Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and found so much more than when I read them as a child. I found the fate of Emeth in “The Last Battle” particularly interesting.

I can’t believe I used to give money to these people. Since when is killing babies a human right? How can they spend so much more money promoting abortion than fighting against torture and other urgent human rights abuses? Rather than spending money on abortion we should be spending it on providing better healthcare and support for all pregnant women around the world.

Almost half of Amnesty International Ireland’s campaign money went on abortion promotion in 2016 with just 6% going on abolition of the death penalty and 15% on stopping torture. Amnesty International’s spend in 2016 on abortion topped any other human rights work according an article in ‘The Sun’ October 2017 at nearly 50% of the total campaign funding.

‘Abortion is Amnesty International’s top campaign priority in Ireland – as charity spent €275k on the issue last year’ by Kieran Dineen, Public Affairs Correspondent: The Sun, 6th October 2017:

AMNESTY CONTINUES TO HOLD OUT AND ON TO ILLEGAL FUNDING FROM GEORGE SOROS’ OPEN SOCIETY.

(Good article though a little dated: Amnesty International Ireland, are still holding both out and on to the illegal money from George Soros’ Open Society: Meanwhile Bishop Fonsie Cullinan of Waterford diocese, has called for people to challenge the Standards in Public Office / S.I.P.O. over the money saga with Amnesty)

Dublin, Ireland, Dec 11, 2017 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Amnesty International is in no position to oppose an Irish law against foreign political funding now that it is under scrutiny for taking money from U.S. financier George Soros’ Open Society Foundations to target the country’s abortion restrictions, Irish pro-life advocates have said.

“The arrogance they have shown in the past few days on this issue is staggering. They are now trying to argue that they have a ‘human right’ to take money from billionaires to push to have abortion legalization in Ireland, while they also argue that preborn children should not have the most basic human right of all – the right to life,” Niamh Ui Bhriain, a spokesperson for the Irish-based Life Institute, told CNA Dec. 11.

She said the action shows the reliance of Irish pro-abortion rights campaigners on foreign funding. Millions of dollars in overseas funding have targeted Ireland’s pro-life laws for decades, as have other U.S. groups like the Center for Reproductive Rights.

“It’s made for a very un-level playing field in the abortion debate in Ireland,” she said.

The Republic of Ireland’s Standards in Public Office Commission has told the human rights and pro-abortion legalization group to return about $160,000 in funds to the Soros foundations. According to the commission, the money violated Irish law barring foreign donations to third party groups seeking to influence the outcome of a referendum campaign.

The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.

The current Irish legislation already allows for abortion in limited cases but the international pro-abortion lobby wants to expand access to bring Ireland in line with other countries. There is to be a referendum on the 25th of May to test public support for repealing the Eighth Amendment. The Irish government, mainstream media and pro-abortion forces outside Ireland (like Soros) are pushing hard for repeal. One of the reasons used to promote abortion is the safety of women, but Ireland is statistically one of the safest places in the world to be pregnant and give birth. Those statistics are an embarrassment to the pro-abortion lobby and so Ireland is being pressured to downgrade* its healthcare for women in the name of women’s rights. Ironic, no?

If you would like to support the pro-life efforts in Ireland, one of the easiest ways is through prayer. You can offer your own individual prayers, of course, but there are also organised prayer campaigns. For example, EWTN have organised a rosary campaign that you can join any time. There is also a fasting initiative being promoted in imitation of the successful, scriptural fast prompted by Queen Esther (a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary):

And again Esther sent to Mardochai in these words: Go, and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt find in Susan, and pray ye for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and then I will go in to the king, against the law, not being called, and expose myself to death and to danger. [Esther 3:15-16 Douay-Rheims]

The Irish version of this fast is to be carried out on the Fridays of May leading up to the referendum, i.e. the 4th, 11th and 18th of May. Supporters are to have only bread and water on these days. Please join us if you feel able, but don’t endanger your health.

If you have the means, you could also consider donating to the various pro-life organisations in Ireland. There’s the Life Institute in Dublin that’s running the SaveThe8th campaign. There’s lots of information about the abortion issue on its website. There are also Catholic organisations like Human Life International and Ask Majella that support women with crisis pregnancies.

We can’t use the hard cases to justify abortion on demand. Threats to the mother’s life are already accounted for in Irish law. In cases of rape, incest and foetal abnormalities, the testimony of mothers shows that abortion tends to add to their suffering whereas birthing the baby tends to be a positive and healing experience. Other types of crisis pregnancy can be tackled by offering counselling, financial aid or adoption, and these alternatives should be researched, promoted, facilitated and financed in preference to abortion. Repealing the Eighth Amendment will make that so much harder. Please help Ireland set a good example for the rest of the world.

*Abortion poses a significant risk to the woman’s physical and mental health, despite what the pro-abortion lobby would like you to believe.